The hindrance against conscious and logical thinking.

Are we moving in the correct direction? 

Ever since mankind becoming better equipped with knowledge, skills and tools for our so called enhanced quality of living, we saw the constant creation of laws, SOPs and guidelines. The number of those laws and SOPs just keep increasing. Everything was covered to guide us in our daily and professional life, and state consequences for violation.

Did we get better with those guidelines and had crime been substantially reduced?

I think not. I did not do any research on this. However, I got a strong feeling that if we gather the total number of crimes committed and plot them against the total population, the stories say otherwise.

We got so used to following SOPs that we try searching for one when we are faced with issues. When there are none, we are quick to create one to ensure we have all situations covered. We are so dependent on the SOPs that we are unable to react appropriately when there isn't a SOP to guide us in that situation. We lost our ability to apply logical thinking and develop immediate strategies to solve the emergency we encountered.

Then the problem came about with the laws and SOPs used as a yardstick to measure against conscious and ethnics. When a person committed a crime or an offense, laws and SOPs were used to determine if the person is guilty. We had through the years saw cases of how an individual managed to twist in the interpretation and use of laws to escape judgment. As comprehensive as the laws and SOPs can be, even after gaps were filled with an addition or amendment, its effectiveness lies on the person who enforce it. When one justified that he or she did not violate any laws or SOPs, it not necessarily means that he or she is conscious clear. Only the person will know. Well, perhaps the person may not even know or be aware that what he or she did wasn't ethically correct.

I am not against laws or SOPs; there is a need for them to be there to provide guidance and as a yardstick for our life and work. However, they should be simple and short so that one can remember during an emergency, giving critical outcomes to be achieved and not steps to be followed. They should not attempt to provide detailed procedures for every single situations, but required outcomes needed for emergency so that it encourage critical and logical thinking during an emergency, instead of flipping through the laws and SOPs for a solution.

While we are working on refining of laws and SOPs to cater to the changing needs and environment, we should not neglect in instilling good morale and the ability to apply logical thinking in us. Without a good morale and the ability to apply logical thinking, laws and SOPs only serve as an excuse to do the wrong things and prevent us to apply quick critical thinking in solving issues and save life during an emergency.